


Negotiations

by talesoffangirl



Series: Brothers AU [3]
Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BigBrother!Asch, Gen, LittleBrother!Luke, Mentions of College Struggles, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 18:38:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesoffangirl/pseuds/talesoffangirl
Summary: Asch had known trying to juggle university and Luke would be challenging, but he also knew that continuing with his education would be better for them in the long run. Still, the end of that run seemed dishearteningly far away, sometimes.___Asch struggles to balance his job as a soon-to-be-sophomore college student alongside his job as a big brother. As always, Guy is there to lend a hand.





	Negotiations

**Author's Note:**

> Our annual Lorelei Day update roughly a week and a half late. You're welcome. 
> 
> Also hey. I'm gonna try and update this series more than just once a year. This addition will hopefully set things up for me to start that. Enjoy!

“Ten… Eleven… Twelve!” Luke cheered gleefully as he swung himself from the final rung of the monkey bars. He landed firmly on the metal platform and spun around, waving his arms over his head. “Did you see me, Guy? I went all the way around all by myself!”

Guy grinned and clapped his hands a few times. “Good going, Luke! I think you did it faster than you did last time.”

“You think so? Wait, I’ll do it again, you can time me!”

“All right, all right, give me a second.” Guy took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a stopwatch. “Get ready, and… Go!” His thumb hit the start button and Luke grabbed the first rung, swinging himself from the platform to gain some momentum to carry him to the next.

“You set yourself up for that one,” Asch pointed out. “He’s going to ask you to time him five more times now.”

“That’s fine. That’ll keep him occupied for a solid- what do you think, two minutes?”

“If we’re lucky.” Asch watched his little brother swing for the first few rungs before turning his attention back to his laptop. A screen filled with time slots and class names stared back at him. While he’d fit a majority of them nicely into one giant block, there was one that stubbornly remained an outlier, and it was frustrating Asch to no end.

He felt Guy shift against his arm. “How’s it going?”

“You’re supposed to be timing him.”

“So, not well?”

Asch sighed and lifted a hand to rub at his temple, leaving the other pressed against the base of his laptop to keep it balanced on his knees. “I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet. I’ve tried everything, but this class just won’t fit into my schedule. It’s too late in the evening.” He ran the same hand through his hair in irritation, letting his elbow come to rest on the back of the bench they were sitting on. “I guess I’m just going to have to take it online.”

“You know, I could pick Luke up from school if you were to have a late class a few times a week. It’s really no big deal.”

Asch shook his head. “That would be three days a week, and you’d have to stay until I got home. That’s too much to ask.”

“I really wouldn’t mind.”

“I know you wouldn’t. But you have your own life to live, Guy. I don’t expect you to spend it at my beck and call.”

“Asch-”

“Guy!” They both glanced up to see Luke once again standing on the platform, pouting petulantly in their direction. “You weren’t watching!”

"Ah, sorry, Luke! Here, go again, I’ll watch extra carefully this time.” Luke puffed his cheeks unhappily, but still wiped his palms off on his pants, readying himself for another go-around. “Okay, get ready, and… Go!” As Luke’s feet left the platform, Asch’s gaze dropped back down to the screen of his laptop, staring at the one box that didn’t fit in his puzzle.

Creating his class schedules was no easier now than it had been the other two times he’d done it. Asch had a strict time limit as far as how early and late his classes could be - late enough in the morning for him to be able to drop Luke off at school, and ending early enough in the afternoon for him to be able to pick him up after. By some stroke of luck, his first semester had worked out almost perfectly for him. He’d had class every day - which couldn’t be avoided, no matter how adamantly he tried - but his first and last classes fit well into the time slot he’d set for himself. His second semester was largely the same, though twice a week he had a class that ran a bit later than he would have liked, but again, it couldn’t be helped. On those days, Luke had to wait for him in the school office, and while it really wasn’t that much of a problem, Luke didn’t like it, and admittedly neither did Asch. He didn’t like the idea of Luke having to sit in the office and wait for him alone, so Asch decided he’d do what he could to avoid that happening again.

Unfortunately, most of the classes he planned on taking in the next semester had only one offered time, and left little room for leeway on how he could arrange his schedule. He didn’t want to take many summer classes if he could avoid it - summer was supposed to mean being able to spend more time with Luke, and less time trying to find someone else to watch him - which left him the option of taking some of his classes online. Which was convenient, but also meant more of his time at home would be taken up, still leaving him with less time to spend with his brother.

Asch had known trying to juggle university and Luke would be challenging, but he also knew that continuing with his education would be better for them in the long run. Still, the end of that run seemed dishearteningly far away, sometimes.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” Guy said, when Luke had gotten about halfway around the monkey bars. “Since, you know, I’m graduated now.”

“What about it?” Asch asked, distracted, his eyes scanning through a list of available online classes for the coming semester. The one he needed was still open; at least he had some luck there.

“About how I want to start watching Luke full-time again, now that I won’t be busy.”

That grabbed Asch’s attention, and he snapped his head around to stare at Guy wide-eyed. Guy didn’t even flinch, keeping his gaze steadily trained on Luke.

“What?”

“Time!” Luke landed back on the platform and spun around. “Time, Guy! What’d I get?!”

“Thirty-two seconds.”

“That’s too slow! Time me again!” Luke didn’t even wait for Guy to call out a start before he was off again. Guy chuckled, but let him have his few-second lead.

Asch, annoyed that Guy had timed his comment so well, reached out and shoved at the blond’s shoulder. “Are you out of your mind?”

“When it comes to you two? Definitely.”

“You aren’t watching Luke again.”

Guy finally looked over at him. “Why not?”

“Because, Guy, you being graduated doesn’t mean you’re going to suddenly  have all this free time. You have to start your career at some point.”

“Plenty of people take gap years after they graduate.”

“Yeah, _a year_ , not three.”

Guy shrugged and turned back to Luke, who was finishing up the last few rungs. “I’ll let you pay me, if that’ll make you feel better.”

“You know that’s not what this is about-!”

“Time! What was it on that one, Guy?!”

“Just barely thirty that time. You wanna go once more?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna get under thirty this time, watch!”

Guy chuckled again as he started the stopwatch for the third time, glancing back to Asch. “What makes you think I wouldn’t wanna spend every day with this kid?”

“Guy,” Asch said seriously, “you can’t keep putting your life on hold for us.”

Guy’s smile wavered at Asch’s statement, twisting from happy and carefree to something more somber and understanding. He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you on your own.”

Asch frowned. “You don’t have to take care of me. I’m fine-“

“I know you are,” the blond cut in, waving Asch’s words away with a hand. “I’m just saying: all you’ve ever done is what you think is best for Luke.” His hand dropped onto Asch’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I think it’s time someone started doing the same for you.”

Asch stared back at him, having no idea what sort of response he could possibly give to that. He’d never thought twice about living his life by Luke; he’d known from the moment his little brother was born that he was going to do whatever it took to take care of him, that he wouldn’t let Luke grow up feeling the way he had. He was going to make good on all those promises he’d made to that tiny baby in his arms on sleepless nights spent by the window.

Asch had never stopped and thought that maybe Guy had a few promises of his own that he wanted to keep.

The sound of a shrill yelp followed by a loud _thud_ drew Asch’s attention back towards the playground. All it took was for him to register a head of bright red hair on the ground before he was all but shoving his laptop down beside him on the bench and taking off, Guy at his heels.

“Let me see,” Asch said, as soon as he was crouched down beside his little brother. Luke had pushed himself up into a sitting position, and now sat on his bottom in the wood chips, his hands palm-side up. There were tears at the corners of his eyes as he held them out towards Asch.

“I-I'm okay, Asch, see?” His hands were scratched from catching his fall, the jagged edges of the wood chips leaving his palms littered with small lines of torn skin. There was only one cut deep enough to draw blood, and thankfully, it was just a thin streak of red running along the base of Luke’s thumb. “It just stings a little, that's all…”

Asch looked over at Guy, who was hovering behind them, ready to step in if he was needed. “I have a water bottle in my bag. Will you grab it for me?” The blond nodded, doubling back to their bench as Asch turned his attention back to his brother. “Just a few scrapes. We’ll clean you up and you’ll be fine.” Luke sniffed and nodded.

There was a tap against his shoulder, and Asch reached up to grab the water bottle that Guy passed over to him. He unscrewed the cap and took one of Luke’s hands in his, pouring some of the water over his palm. Luke winced slightly as it slipped over his cuts.

“There,” Asch murmured, repeating the process over Luke’s other hand. “That should be good enough until we get home. We can clean them properly there. Just be more careful, okay?”

“Okay.” Luke nodded, a small smile crossing his face. “Thanks, Asch.” Asch smiled back at him, lifting a hand to ruffle his brother’s mess of red hair.

The scuffling of wood chips sounded behind him. “Excuse me?” Asch looked over to see a tall blonde-haired woman standing there, clutching a small blue coin purse to her chest. She gave him a kind smile and a little wave as she gained his attention. “Your brother, is he all right?”

Asch blinked in surprise, rising to his feet. He gave a slow nod of his head. “He’s fine.”

She nodded back at him and popped open her purse. “I hope you don’t mind me being nosy. I just thought you might like to borrow this.” She pulled out a small green spray bottle, and held it up for Asch to see. The label across the front of it read _To-Go Antiseptic._ “Better safe than sorry, right?”

Asch furrowed his brow as he stared skeptically at the woman. She met his gaze easily, even giving him a pointed look of her own.

“Please, I insist.” She shook the bottle lightly between her fingers.

When she didn’t show any signs of backing down or leaving them alone, Asch sighed, and finally stretched out his hand. With a pleased smile, the woman dropped the bottle into his waiting palm, allowing him to draw it back and get a better look at it. It seemed legitimate enough; in fact, it was the same brand of antiseptic that he kept in the medicine cabinet at home.

He glanced over his shoulder at Guy. His friend gave him a shrug back. _It’s your call._

“...Luke, let me see your hands again.” Asch turned back to his brother and held his own hand out expectantly. Luke obeyed, holding out his cut palms. “This one’s going to sting a bit more.” His little brother bit his lip, but nodded.

Asch placed his finger on the head of the bottle and pressed down. He gave Luke’s hand a squeeze as the younger boy winced more sharply this time. He was quick about doing his other hand, then pushed Luke’s palms together and blew a cool breath over them to ease the stinging.

“I-It’s okay, I’m okay…” Luke mumbled, pulling his hands free to cradle them against his chest. He had on a brave enough face, though his bottom lip still wobbled slightly. Asch nodded and patted him on the shoulder, shooing him off in Guy’s direction.

While Luke attached himself to Guy’s leg, Asch held the bottle back out to the woman.

“Thank you.”

She accepted it back with a smile. “You’re welcome, Asch.” He blinked, taken aback, and she giggled. “I beg your pardon. It’s just, I believe you’re in my psychology class, up at University of Kimlasca?”

Asch blinked again, this time in realization. They’d never spoken before, but now that she mentioned it, he did recall seeing her walking into the lecture hall practically every day. Their psychology professor was one of the few who required attendance, and did roll call at the start of every class: that must have been how she knew his name.

“Yeah, that’s me. And you’re…” He pondered for a moment, “...Natalia, right?”

Natalia smiled and held out her free hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Asch accepted the handshake. “I didn’t know you were from around here.”

“Oh, I’m not, actually. But I come to the neighborhood every so often to look after Tear, while her brother is away.” She glanced down at her side. Asch followed her gaze, and saw a little girl who had to be about Luke’s age peeking out from behind Natalia’s leg. Her bright blue eyes caught sight of him and she squeaked softly, slipping further behind Natalia. The sight made a smile tug at the corner of Asch’s mouth. He wasn’t used to shy kids, Luke had never been anything but a little social butterfly since the moment he learned how to walk.

“Tear?” Luke was peering at them from around Guy’s leg, staring curiously at the girl. He took a step forward. The girl switched to peeking out from Natalia’s other side as she heard the call of her name. “Hey, I remember you! You’re the girl who pushed me down into the mud when we were playing tag!”

Tear’s face went pink. “O-Only because you pulled my hair!”

“I didn’t mean to! I was just trying to tag you! And I said I was sorry!”

“Well, it still hurt!”

Luke puffed his cheeks, but walked over to the girl. Tear shrunk back behind Natalia as he approached. “Look, I _am_ sorry, okay? You wanna go on the swings? I’ll push you.” She stared at him wearily, but apparently the mention of the swings was enough to convince her, and she slowly stepped towards him. Luke beamed at her before running over to the swings. Tear followed him.

Natalia giggled, watching the two of them. “My, what a little gentleman.”

“Yeah, well, he knows better than to be pulling anyone’s hair,” Asch said, glancing over at Guy. He must not have joined him and Luke at the park that day, because he didn’t recall any hair-pulling, and Guy had certainly never mentioned any either. Busted, the blond grinned sheepishly and waved at Asch before slinking back over to their bench.

“Oh, don’t be angry with him. It truly was an accident, I saw the whole thing. Besides, Tear was the one who purposely pushed him down.”

Asch shook his head. “No, it’s okay. They were just being kids.” He crossed his arms. “And anyway, I think it’s good that Tear knows not to let anyone mess with her. Good on her.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s a good point.” Natalia looked over at him, a smile still on her face. “You certainly pay attention in class, don’t you?”

Asch looked back at her, shrugging gently. “Or I just have a younger brother that I expect to do the same.”

“Of course.” Her olive green eyes twinkled at him. “It sounds to me like you take your job as an older brother quite seriously.”

He cleared his throat, glancing back to the swing set. Tear had settled on one of the seats, and a smile was on her face as Luke pushed her up into the air. “You must take being a babysitter seriously too, to carry a to-go bottle of antiseptic around with you.”

“You’d assume correctly. Though I fear sometimes I’m overly paranoid.”

“Trust me, you’re fine.” Asch used to carry a fully stocked first aid kit around in his bag whenever he took Luke anywhere. If that wasn’t overly paranoid, he wasn’t sure what was - Guy still teased him for it.

“Well, I believe it’s true that there’s no such thing as being too careful, so I think I’ll be keeping this with me.” She held up her coin purse and snapped it shut, definitively. “Should you ever need it during class, then, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Still, the offer stands.” Natalia smiled at him, then blinked and checked her watch. “Ah, I need to get Tear home, her brother will be back soon.” She held her hand out to Asch again. “I’m sure I’ll see you around?”

Asch nodded as he took her hand once more. “Yeah, see you.”

She nodded kindly at him, stepping away to head over to a bench on the other side of the playground, where she had apparently set up a small camp of her own. “Tear! Come on, we have to get going!”

Luke pulled Tear’s swing to a stop, letting her hop off. Asch watched the two of them speak, too far and too quietly for him to hear what they were saying. But Luke had a smile on his face and made a gesture with his hands as he said something that made Tear smile too. The girl nodded at Luke, then turned away and hurried back over to Natalia, taking the pink teddy bear that the blonde woman held out to her.

Natalia lifted a bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. She caught Asch’s gaze and waved at him; he offered a small lift of his hand back. As the two of them began to walk away, a splash of red appeared at the corner of his vision, and he looked over as Luke came running up to him.

“Can we stay a little longer, Asch? Please?”

“Yeah. I still have some work to finish up. We’ll go after that. Just save me the heart attack and stay off the monkey bars, for now.” Luke beamed up at him and nodded before taking off for the playground again, as Asch headed back to the bench where Guy sat with their belongings.

“She seemed nice,” Guy chirped innocently, his gaze trained on Luke as he ran around on the playground equipment. Asch sat back down beside him and reached for his laptop, setting it on his knees. He typed his password in, watching as the screen lit back up to the page of online classes.

“Three times a week,” Asch said. “You’d have to pick him up from school and probably make him something to eat, too, if I’m not home in time. But you leave as soon as I’m back. We won’t be taking up your _entire_ day.” He turned his head. Guy was staring at him, eyes wide with surprise. “And yeah, I’m going to pay you. So deal with it.”

“You’re serious?”

“If you really want to watch Luke again, then that’s the offer. Take it or leave it.”

Guy hummed thoughtfully. “I'll take it. On one condition.”

“That's not taking or leaving it.”

Unsurprisingly, his retort went ignored. “The deal goes for every semester. Changed however you need it to fit your schedule.” Asch narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but Guy only stared back at him, unfazed. “Asch. Just let me help you, okay? Take whatever classes you need to take and get through these next three years. Luke will be fine with me.”

“I know that,” Asch said immediately, because he did. He trusted Luke more with Guy than he did with their own parents.

“So…?” Guy nudged him expectantly. “We have a deal?”

“...Yeah. Deal.”

Guy grinned smugly, continuing to elbow him. Asch batted him away, attention back on his laptop, once again beginning to click through all the tabs he had open to figure out - what would hopefully be - his final schedule.

“He won't need a babysitter forever, you know,” Guy pointed out. “It'll get easier when he's older, and he can look after himself.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Hey, you turned out alright.”

“Guy!” Luke shouted from the playground. “Guy, will you time me again? I wanna see how fast I can get down all the slides in one go!”

Guy gave him a thumbs up and grabbed his phone again. “He’s reaching, now.”

“Let him wear himself out. Besides, he can’t hurt himself going down a slide.” Asch glanced up as Guy called out the start of the time, and Luke began racing through the equipment to get to the first slide. “Well, he’s less likely to, at least.”

“Knowing Luke, I wouldn’t be surprised if he still found a way.” Guy rested his phone on his knee as he leaned back against the bench, crossing his arms over his chest. “So, seriously, that woman who was here. She’s a friend from school?”

“I wouldn’t say _friend._ I don’t know anything about her besides her name.”

“She mentioned you guys have class together? That’s nice.” Asch gave the blond beside him a look, and got a cheeky grin in response. “What? All I’m saying is it’s nice to have a friend or two in a class. You never know when you’ll need a save.”

“Yeah, if I ever get a paper cut, I’ll know who to find.”

Guy chuckled. “You’re impossible.”

Asch only shrugged, falling silent as he focused in on what he was doing. His schedule looked less aesthetically pleasing now: small groups of classes that fit in a nice block flanked by the separate squares of the one that didn’t. But it was going to work, and that was all he cared about.

He stared at his outlying class thoughtfully, a block labeled _Developmental Psychology_.

He had a feeling he’d be seeing more of that woman after all.


End file.
